Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the
symbol in each box.

Welcome to Am I Infected

IMPORTANT UPDATE
Posted Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Welcome to the "Am I Infected?" POZ forum.

New members -- those who have posted three or fewer messages -- are permitted to post questions and responses, free of charge (make them count!). Ongoing participation in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- posting more than three questions or responses -- requires a paid subscription.

A seven-day subscription
is $9.99, a 30-day subscription is $14.99 and a 90-day subscription is $24.99.

Anyone who needs to post more than three messages in the "Am I Infected?" forum -- including past, present and future POZ Forums members -- will need to subscribe, with
secure payments made via PayPal.

There will be no charge to continue reading threads in the
"Am I Infected?" forum, nor will there be a charge for participating
in any of the Main Forums; Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits; and Off Topic
Forums. Similarly, all POZ and AIDSmeds pages,
including our "How is HIV
Transmitted?" and "Am I Infected? (A
Guide to Testing for HIV)" lessons, will remain accessible to
all.

NOTE: HIV testing questions will still need to be posted in the "Am I
Infected?" forum; attempts to post HIV symptoms or testing questions in any other forums will be considered violations of our rules of membership and subject to time-outs and permanent bans.

To learn how to upgrade your Forums account
to participate beyond three posts in the "Am I Infected?" Forum, please click here.

Thank you for your understanding
and future support of the best online support service for people living with,
affected by and at risk for HIV.

Author
Topic: I need to know (Read 4001 times)

Hello everybody well this is my story Iíve been reading through this site and searching for a situation like mine, so here goes about 2 days back I had a encounter with a female at a massage parlor it was my first time my one of these places so I was trying to be careful she offered me sex but I refused but I did get a covered blow job from her I know thatís not a risk so here is what I am worried about before she gave me a blow job came into the room with the condom(not in the package) she than started to rub herself vigorously while I masturbated than after she was done rubbing herself she took the condom with the same hand she used to masturbate. To get myself a little harder I rubbed the head of my penis against her virginal lips she was really wet and I know some of it got onto the head of my penis ( on the urethra) is there any risk from her vaginal fluid ether from her hand touching the condom and contaminating it or from the head of my penis touching her lips I know somehow fluid got on to my penis. Also if I did want to test when would be the earliest I could test GMHC says 4 week Mass say 6 week cdc says 12 weeks help...

You are worrying needlessly. HIV is a fragile virus. It is absolutely not transmitted from hand to penis nor from rubbing your penis against the vaginal lips.

The only confirmed sexual risks for the transmission of HIV are unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. The risk for everything is theoretical. In the real world of HIV we know it's about unprotected intercourse. Use condoms everytime for those activities and you will be well and effectively protected.

wow thanks for the fast reply what about the fluid coming into direct contact with my urethra Im only asking because the local std hot-line said that it was a risk because of that and I got this off POZ "HIV enters the body through open cuts, sores or breaks in the skin; through mucous membranes" can hiv travel like sperm? thanks for your patients I just want to lear a little more about it..

hello I have been reading as much as I can on the subject and every website say that coming into contact with vaginal secretion put me at some risk for infection I do remember that when I did rub the head against her vaginal lips the head did get wet with her fluid. Also I was wondering is it possible to have ARS at 3 day post ex poser today I woke up with a sore throat. Thank you for all the info

No, ARS symptoms would not occur 3 days after a risk. A sore throat is absolutely not in anyway an HIV specific happening.

As far as what you read on other sites or get from other sources, we're not responsible for that. We've evaluated what you told us and you did not have a risk. You can believe us or not. We don't respond casually. I can promise you that if you continue to surf the net you absolutely will come up with lots of "answers" to feed your worst fears. All to no good purpose.

You didn't have a risk and there's no need for testing. HIV is a fragile virus and does not get passed through the kind of penis to vaginal secretions you are concerned about.

There is absolutely no sound basis on your part for instituting PEP. You don't seem to believe it, but you absolutely did not have a risk for HIV transmission.

Unfortunately sometimes the hysteria of an anxious person over a non-risk persuades a doctor to prescribe PEP. It's unfortunate when that happens because PEP is not a treatment to be entered upon lightly. Hopefully you won't go that route. If there was any doubt about your situation we would tell you so. But there isn't. You're bothering yourself totally unnecesarily.

hey andy and rod thx for all the answers I still cant shake this feeling can u please explan a little more in detail why this isnt a risk here is part of a lesson I found and it seem that my situation would apply to this.

Unsafe ActivitiesUnsafe sex has a high risk of spreading HIV. The greatest risk is when blood or sexual fluid touches the soft, moist areas (mucous membrane) inside the rectum, vagina, mouth, nose, or at the tip of the penis. These can be damaged easily, which gives HIV a way to get into the body.

Vaginal or rectal intercourse without protection is very unsafe. Sexual fluids enter the body, and wherever a man's penis is inserted, it can cause small tears that make HIV infection more likely. The receptive partner is more likely to be infected, although HIV might be able to enter the penis, especially if it has contact with HIV-infected blood or vaginal fluids for a long time or if it has any open sores.

Some men think that they can't transmit HIV if they pull their penis out before they reach orgasm. This isn't true, because HIV can be in the fluid that comes out of the penis before orgasm.

this is the most important question can I resume having unprotected sex with my monogamous partner?

Worldwide, the predominant virus is HIV-1, and generally when people refer to HIV without specifying the type of virus they will be referring to HIV-1. The relatively uncommon HIV-2 type is concentrated in West Africa and is rarely found elsewhere.

The strains of HIV-1 can be classified into three groups : the "major" group M, the "outlier" group O and the "new" group N. These three groups may represent three separate introductions of simian immunodeficiency virus into humans.

Group O appears to be restricted to west-central Africa and group N - discovered in 1998 in Cameroon - is extremely rare. More than 90% of HIV-1 infections belong to HIV-1 group M Within group M there are known to be at least nine genetically distinct subtypes (or clades) of HIV-1. These are subtypes A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J and K.

hey Andy I have a general question about hiv transmition does virus quantity matter or can just a little bit or 1 virus be enough to infect? I was also reading another post you put up say that the virus is found in a woman's cervix so does this mean that the virus isn't present in the other parts of the vagina even though theres fluid there?

The part of the vagina where HIV is commonly found is in the cervix. Could it theoretically show up further down in the vaginal cavity. Yes, but that doesn't seem to happen. And in any case,

Attempting to quantify a viral quantity necessary for transmission not the point. The point is whether you have unprotected intercourse, vaginal or anal, or not. Unprotected intercourse is a risk. Period. So that is always to be avoided.

Chevy, you're trying to nail it all down exactly. All you have to do to protect yourself in terms of the sexual transmission of HIV is to consistently use condoms for intercourse. It's really just that simple so stop complicating the issue.

hey Andy I have probably another dumb question today I was in the shower with my GF and she wanted to fool around so she started to play with me and I got excited of course after that I started to play with her by fingering her I was going pretty deep inside her my concern is if I was infected by any reason I would have a really infectious because this would technically be the beginning I not saying I know if Im infected or not but is fingering a risk for a woman if a man has precum on his finger?

hey Andy I have a question I have been feeling kinda crappy is it possible to get hiv the way I described its be 2 1/2 week and I got sick a fever 100.0 a sore throat and body aches has there ever been an infection that has taken place other than sex and needle sharing please help I'm really scared

hey Andy I have a question I have been feeling kinda crappy is it possible to get hiv the way I described its be 2 1/2 week and I got sick a fever 100.0 a sore throat and body aches has there ever been an infection that has taken place other than sex and needle sharing please help I'm really scared

What part of all of Andy's replies is it that you don't understand or not reading? Maybe you'll understand the following.

 Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.